A Light in the Dark
by Starlit Purple
Summary: Andros wants to ask a certain yellow ranger out, but will he have the courage to do it on a day at the beach? Birthday fic for the wonderful Ashley Hammond Astro Yellow. Oneshot


Disclaimer: I don't own the power rangers, only the plot.

A/N: This is a birthday present for Marieke. Happy Birthday Marieke! I hope all your dreams and wishes come true! I know it's a few days early but I hope you enjoy:D

Summary: Andros wants to ask a certain yellow ranger out but will he have the courage to do it on a day at the beach? Birthday fic for Marieke.

**A Light in the Dark**

It was getting late on the megaship and a lone figure walked the corridors. The others had already gone to their rooms to shower and get ready for bed. He had failed to do it. Zhane told him to go for it and ask her today, but he had chickened out.

Earlier that evening...

The rangers decided to spend the day at the beach. It had been the first day in a long time that they'd had a break. Ashley had asked Andros to come but he told her that he had work to do on the ship. Sighing she walked off the bridge and left with the others.

Andros stayed on the bridge. Sure, he had plenty of things to do but they didn't have to be done immediately. He had seen the disappointed look on Ashley's face as she left the bridge. He had wanted to go but he always got so nervous around her. There was something about her, he didn't know what it was, but she always made him feel so warm inside when she was around.

"What's on your mind Andros?" Alpha asked walking onto the bridge.

"Huh," Andros said coming out of his reverie. "Oh...um...nothing."

The little robot went on about his business on the bridge. After a few minutes of silence, Andros got up and walked out. He eventually found himself in front of the simudeck. Trying to get his mind off of things, mainly Ashley's reaction to him not joining her and the others, he decided to practice a little.

"DECA set the simulation to level six." Andros told the computer. DECA didn't have to ask which one, Andros always practiced with the same one. Instantly, several Craterites surrounded him. Letting his instincts born from being a ranger take charge, he fell into the steady routine of hitting, kicking, blocking, and dodging.

Andros was so absorbed in the fight that he didn't notice his friend watching him from the doorway. "Go to level ten DECA."

"Level ten?" The figure called. "Are you crazy, we've only been able to beat level ten as a team."

Andros turned around and sighed at his friend's statement. "What do you want Zhane? I want to be alone right now."

"I know you do, but I'm not gonna let you." Zhane replied as he walked over to his friend. He put his hand on his shoulder. "Didn't you get the memo? We're taking a break today."

"I don't have time to take a break." Andros argued. "Besides, someone needs to stay here and make sure no one attacks while we're gone."

Zhane rolled his eyes. "You know as well as I do that DECA's scanners will pick up any disturbance without anyone having to be here. She'll call us if she finds anything. Come on, come hang out with us."

Andros sighed as he turned to face his friend. Zhane thought he was going to argue more, but when he said nothing, comprehension dawned on him. "It's Ashley, isn't it?" Zhane asked.

Andros just looked at the floor of the simudeck. "I don't know what to do. What am I supposed to do if I go down there?"

Zhane chuckled and shook his head. "Wow, you definitely need to get out more. You talk, you laugh, you have fun, that's what you do."

Andros looked at him. "I mean with Ashley, I don't know what I'm supposed to say to her."

"Wait a minute, after all that huff you made about me hanging out with Ashley, you don't even want to be around her now? And I thought you guys went on a date, did something happen?" He watched as Andros went over to get his bottle of water. He opened it and took a drink, then reached down and grabbed a red towel from the floor. He wiped his face off and hung the towel around his neck then turned back to face his friend.

"First off, I do want to be around her, I just don't know what to do...or say for that matter. Yeah we did go on a date and nothing bad happened, actually it was kinda nice." Andros grinned fondly.

"Andros, no one knows exactly what they're supposed to do or say. You just say what you feel and do what your heart tells you." Zhane told him. " What did you do the other night?"

Andros rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know, we just...talked, mostly about the stars and Haley's comet."

Zhane frowned at him. " So, what's the problem?"

Andros shook his head and sat down cross-legged on the floor. "Ever since our date the other night, Ashley's been a little...distant, I don't think she wants to be around me."

Zhane walked over and sat by his friend. "Are you kidding me? She was practically begging you to go to the beach with us. She's really disappointed you didn't go."

Andros's head snapped up. "Really?"

Zhane couldn't believe that Andros was surprised by that. I mean Andros was dense sometimes, but man... "Yes really. Andros she adores you. You really mean a lot to her and I know she really wanted you to go."

For a few minutes Andros was silent. Then finally, he said "I want to ask her to..." he paused and blushed a little "...to be my girlfriend." he finished.

"So why are you still up here? Today would be the perfect opportunity to ask her, while we're all taking a break." Zhane replied.

Andros sighed again. "I guess you're right. But what if she says no?"

"I'm sure she won't. Look, just go down there and talk to her, tell her how you feel. I bet she feels the same way about you." Zhane said as he stood up. "So, are you coming?" he inquired with raised eyebrows. He held his hand out to help Andros up. Andros glanced up at him, then smiling, took his hand and stood up. "I guess, just let me take a quick shower."

Zhane grinned back at him. "Alright, I'll wait for you."

About twenty minutes later, Andros went to the jump tubes where Zhane was waiting for him. He looked a lot nicer than he had before. He was wearing a white tank top and red shorts. He left his hair down and it was hanging over his shoulders.

Zhane handed him a beach towel that had different shades of red stripes going down it. "Here, you might need it."

Andros threw it over his shoulder and they teleported out.

At the beach...

They teleported to a secluded area behind some large rocks. Andros gave Zhane a questioning look that clearly said he didn't know where to go. Zhane laughed and said "They're just over here."

He walked around the large rocks and Andros followed behind. Almost immediately, Andros could hear the sounds of his friends voices. A few minutes later he could see them.

Cassie and Ashley were sitting in the sand talking and laughing. They were building what Andros guessed was supposed to be a sand castle, but it looked pretty pitiful. He watched as Ashley picked up a handful of sand put it on the top of their 'castle' and couldn't help but laugh when the whole thing gave way and collapsed. Ashley glared at the pile of sand now sitting in front of her. Both girls turned when they heard Andros laughing.

"Andros!" Ashley squealed. She stood up and helped Cassie up. They brushed the excess sand off their legs in the time it took Zhane and Andros to reach them. Andros's breath was taken away when he looked at Ashley. She looked beautiful. She was wearing a yellow spaghetti strap bikini top which showed her midriff and a printed wrap around skirt that came just below her knees. Her hair was pulled back into two french braids. A few stray hairs had come out of the braids and hung around her face. It made her look even more stunning.

"Hey." Ashley said with a smile. Then, she squinted her eyes at him. "I thought you had work to do today?"

"Well, someone convinced me that I needed a break too." Andros replied as he looked over at Zhane.

"Yeah, I almost had to drag him down here." Zhane told the girls, who laughed.

Andros shot Zhane a look and then scanned the beach for the others. When he didn't see them, he asked, "Where's TJ and Carlos?"

"TJ went to his house to pick up some things for a picnic and Carlos went to the bathroom I think. They should be back any minute now" Cassie told them glancing over her shoulder.

A few minutes later, TJ and Carlos came walking up. TJ was carrying a big picnic basket and Carlos was carrying a cooler.

"Hey guys, look who I found on my way back from the bathrooms, which I discovered are about a mile away." Carlos called when they were in talking distance.

"Alright food!" Cassie said rubbing her stomach. "I'm starving."

TJ walked up and put the basket down on a blanket that was spread out on the ground. "Looks like you guys found someone too." He said glancing at Andros.

"Yeah Zhane convinced him to come down." Cassie told him. She was already sitting on the blanket and looking through the basket. When she saw them all looking at her she said, "Are you guys just gonna stand there or are we gonna have a picnic?"

The group of friends laughed and sat down to a very nice picnic.

After their picnic, the teens decided to play volley ball. The only difference being that the ball was a beach ball and their 'net' was a line drawn in the sand. Andros and Zhane had never played volley ball before, so, after explaining all the rules, they split up into two teams of three with Andros and Zhane on separate teams. One team was TJ, Cassie, and Zhane and the other was Carlos, Andros, and Ashley. The two Karovans caught on pretty quick and were getting quite competitive with one another.

When it was Andros's turn to serve Carlos passed him the ball. Not knowing that you were supposed to serve a certain way, Andros just threw the ball to the other side. The terran rangers laughed a little.

"What?" He said confused.

Zhane chuckled. "Come on Andros, haven't you been watching? You're not supposed to throw it." Andros threw a glare at Zhane.

Ashley walked over, picked up the ball and walked back over to him. "Sorry, we didn't show you how to serve." she said smiling. "Here." she said handing him the ball. She walked over to his left side and looked at him. "There are two ways you can serve the ball. You can throw it up with your left hand and hit it while it's in the air with your right," she demonstrated with an imaginary ball, "or you can hold it in your left hand and swing your right hand up to hit it." Andros watched as she showed him the second option for serving and stood there for a second, thinking it over. Ashley walked back over to her position in front of the 'net'. "Go ahead, try it."

Andros threw the ball in the air and served it. It was a good serve, the ball was hit back and forth a few times before it landed on Zhane's side.

"Woo!" Ashley cheered high-fiving Carlos and then Andros. "Now we're tied, next one's game point."

It was Zhane's turn to serve. He chose to hit it underhand but when he swung, he missed the ball completely.

"Weren't _you_ watching." Andros said laughing. "I thought you knew how to serve."

Zhane ignored Andros and served again, this time succeeding. Carlos hit it back over the 'net' and TJ jumped up and spiked it. It hit the ground, earning them the winning point.

"Good job guys." Ashley commented. Then turning to Andros, she asked, "Do you want to go for a swim?"

"Uh...sure." he replied and followed Ashley to the blanket. She got a drink of water and took off her wrap skirt and morpher while he took off his tank top and morpher. When he looked up, Ashley looked away. He had the feeling that she had been staring at him.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

They waded out in the water a little ways til the water was waist-deep. Ashley turned to Andros with a curious look. "Did you ever go swimming on KO-35?"

"When I was little." Andros replied. "My parents used to take me and Karone a lot. We didn't go much after Karone disappeared."

Ashley could see the sadness in Andros's eyes as he looked away from her to scan the horizon. She put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

Andros turned to face her again and looked into her eyes. "I just miss her so much...I miss all of them."

"We'll find her, don't worry. I'm sure you'll see your family again." She reached up and softly caressed his cheek. "We're here for you Andros, you're not alone anymore."

Andros reached up and covered her hand with his. Then gave her a small grin and took her hand in his. "Thank you Ashley."

Hand in hand, they waded out a little further. Andros stopped and pulled on Ashley's hand to turn her around. "Ash, I want to ask you something."

"What is it Andros?" she asked, her eyes sparkling with wonder.

"Well, I was wondering if...if you would...I mean if you wanted to..."

Just then, Andros felt a hand around his ankle and he was pulled under. He came back up sputtering for air and noticed Ashley had been pulled under too. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, just wasn't expecting it that's all." she replied wiping the water off her face.

Andros glared at Zhane when he popped up a few feet away from them laughing. "Zhane!" Ashley said giggling and splashing him.

Andros sighed. The moment was ruined, he couldn't ask her now.

Back on the megaship, present time...

Andros sighed. '_I should have stayed and asked her anyway.'_

Zhane had come to tell them that he and the others were going back to the ship. Ashley had asked if he wanted to stay a little longer but he said no. He had lost whatever nerve he had had to ask her out.

Once they got back to the megaship he immediately retreated to his room and took a shower. He decided to go get a snack afterward but got lost in his thoughts on the way.

Suddenly he rounded the corner and bumped smack into someone. He grabbed their arms to steady them. It was Ashley.

"I'm sorry Ashley, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I thought you guys were in your rooms." he told her. '_Great job Andros! Way to win her over, nearly knock her down!'_

"Nah, it's alright. I just came down here to get some hot chocolate." she said holding up a glass that miraculously hadn't spilled when they collided. "Mind having some company?"

Andros shook his head. "I was just on my way to get a snack but I'm not so hungry anymore. Would you like to join me in the observatory?" he inquired.

Ashley smiled, "I'd love to."

They walked into the observatory and sat down in the middle of the dome shaped room.

"The stars look different." Ashley said after looking at them for a few minutes.

"They are the stars in the Karova System, this is what they look like from KO-35."

"It's beautiful." she said breathlessly not taking her eyes off the simulated sky.

Andros looked at her and smiled. "Not as beautiful as you." he whispered.

Ashley lowered her eyes to his and giggled. "Your so sweet Andros." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He looked up at her, and saw her eyes glowing in the starlight. He reached out and held her hands in his.

"Ashley, I wanted to ask you...when we were at the beach earlier...I..." Ashley gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and smiled at him. "I wanted to ask you if you would go out with me...be my girlfriend." he finished, suddenly glad that it was dark.

She giggled a little again. _'He's so cute when he's nervous.'_ she thought to herself. "Of course I will." she replied as she hugged him.

The two sat there a little while longer holding hands and looking at the stars. Then Andros walked Ashley back to her room. "Good night" she said as she kissed him on the cheek again. He reached up and put his hand on the back of her neck, gently pulling her in for a 'real' kiss. They stayed like that for a moment, just lost in the kiss. Finally Andros pulled back to look into her eyes. "Good night Ashley." he said with a smile. Then he turned and headed for his own room. Somehow every thing in the universe seemed perfect, for, in this moment, he was happy. She brought light to the darkness in his life and he knew that, with Ashley, everything would be alright.

A/N: Thanks for reading and review please. And be sure to wish Marieke a happy birthday. I may continue this sometime but it works well as a standalone. If you think I should write more, let me know. Ideas are welcome. Once again, Happy Birthday Marieke!


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